Trailer hitch



June 25, 1935.

J. E. HAGSTROM TRAILER HITCH Filed Sept. 4, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR.

Joseph 15'.

ays fro/77 ATTdRNEY.

June 25, 1935. J. E. HAGSTROM TRAILER HITCH Filed Sept. 4, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR Jos ep/r L". #0? slram BY ATTORNEYY 355 gether but also securing the link in position. A the ring 32. An opening 35 is formed through Patented June 25, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE i 2,005,781 I v t I TRAILER HITCH .7 o 1 f .1 1

Joseph E. Hagstrom, Kansas City, Mo. Application September 4, 1931, Serial No. 1,15

5 Claims. (01. 280-3344) My invention relates to improvements in trailer pin or bolt H passes through both legs of the hitches and is designed primarily for use in conlink for preventing the same from sliding out of nection with four wheel trailers. position and may be locatedbetween thebolts 9 My device is so constructed that a ring is used d The legs of the n are also previded,

5 ;as a turntable, which ring also takes up all the with aligned openings l2 near their ends. This 515 pull thus eliminating all pull on the king bolt, s for aste ng t hitch t preeeedinghllehicle and the only duty this bolt has is to take up wear or to a source of traction power notsnown. of the turntable andghold the several adjacent The rear ends of the tongue members are parts together; in other words the king bolt in P a t each other and relatively pre :my ructure has no shearing strain put upon it. and have filler plates I3 and I4 secured to .their 103 In former hitches the king bolt not only is used inner fa by rivets e l filler to take up wear between adjacent plates but also Plates and [4 v Offset portions l6 and l?- receives all of the pull of the load, and conserespectivelyand downturned ends l8 which are quently must fit the holes in the plates snugly to normally spaced slightly away from the webs of :avoid lost motion, but the constant turning of the the channels or members 6 and 1 so that they will 15" plates due to weaving in and out of traffic and exert aresilient pressure. Smooth aligned openroad turns will wear the bolt, which wear is inings l9 are formed through the member 6, andcreased by the pull in opposite directions of the plate It and aligned screw threaded openings plates. When such wear takes place, the plate and 2! through the member I and plate II. All of 20 which carries the tongue and which is also atthese openings are in alignment so that the bolt 20'"- tached to the reach or connecting rod between 22 canpass therethrough and have its threadthe steering knuckles of the front wheels of the ed end secured in the openings 2i and 20 and. trailer no longer only pivots on the king bolt but then when a nut is secured on the end of the moves sidewise. This movement is transmitted bolt, the bolt will work or turn with the tongue to the front wheels causing them to shimmy, when it raises and lowers, thereby preventing 25 which not only causes excessive wear on the tires, Wear by the narrow edges of the openings surbut also increases the wear on the king'bolt and rounding it. 7 holes to such an extent as to cause the trailer to A clamp plate 23 having depending flanges 24 weave back and forth across the highway makformed along its longitudinal edges is adapted ing sucha trailer not only dangerous to trafiic but to be secured to the axle 25 of the trailer. The 30 rendering it difficult to keep it on the road, let plate is provided adjacent its ends with openings alone in its proper traflic lane. through which the ends of U-bolts 26 pass. In the drawings: These bolts are adapted to pass around three Fig. 1 is a perspective view of my device showfaces of the axle 25 and also'carry slidable spacing the same attached to a portion of the truck-of ing plates 21 which are interposed between the 35 a trailer. top of the axle 25 and lower face of the plate 23 Fig. 2 is a longitudinal vertical section of my and are for the purpose of preventing the head device with a part broken away. 1 l 28 of the king bolt 29 from contacting with the Fig. 3 is a detail perspective disassembled view axle when the plate 23 is secured thereto. I

showing various parts in spaced position. The king bolt 29 passes,- through an opening 40 a Fig. 4 is a longitudinal section of the rear por- 30 formed approximately in the center oi the tion of one of the tongue members, and plate 23. The plate is also provided in its up- Fig. 5 is a similar view of the rear portion of the per face with a circular depression 3|, which is remaining members. substantially semi-circular in cross section and Referring to the drawings: is concentric with the opening 30. 45

6 and I are members comprising a tongue and Located in the depression 3l is a thrust ring are preferably formed of channels with their 32. This ring 32 which may be split as shown in flanges turned inwardly. The members 6 and l the drawings or may be solid, also acts as a turnconverge toward their front ends which have a table and receives all of the thrust or pull exconnecting link 8 interposed therebetween. erted during the use of the hitch, none of this be- 50 The connecting link is formed from a piece of ing taken up by the king bolt. flat material which is bent U-shaped and has the A traction plate 33 is provided with a depresbolts 9 and B l d tween its legs thus not sion 34 which is of the same shape and size as only securing the front ends of the tongue tothe depression 3| to receive the upper portion of the plate 33 centrally of the depression 34 for the passage of the king bolt 29 therethrough. The forward end of the plate is bent to form a loop 36 which partially surrounds the bolt 22, thus forming a hinged connection with the tongue and with a rearward extension 31 which, as well as the'plate 33, is provided with openings through which bolts 38 pass for securing the plate to the bolt 22 in such a manner that it can swing thereon and that wear of the plate and bolt 22 can be taken up. The rear end of the plate is provided with a downwardly offset portion 39 which has a longitudinally extending slot 40 formed therein.

A plate 4! is secured to the plate 33 by a rivet or similar fastening means 42 and has a rearwardly extending downwardly offset portion 43 lying flat on the portion 39 of the plate 33. The portion 43 is provided with a. longitudinal slot 44 which registers with the slot 40. A pin 45 is slidably mounted in the slots 40 and 44 and is prevented from moving longitudinally by the nuts or similar means 46. jThe pin extends into an eye or loop 41 formed by bending the steering plate 48 upon itself. A U-bolt 49 has its ends extending through the plate 48 and is for the purpose of attaching it to the reach or connecting rod 50 which is connected at its opposite ends to the steering knuckles 5 l. of the front truck of the trailer. i

The plate 4| is bent upwardly adjacent the fastening means forming a portion 52 which is parallel to and spaced from the plate 33. The

portion 52 is provided with an opening 53 for the passage of the king bolt 29 therethroughand with a circular depression 54' concentricf with the opening 53 for the reception oi the castle nut 55 which is carried by the'king bolt and is secured against rotation thereon by the cotter pin 56 which is passed through the opening 51 formed through the king bolt. This depressed portion is also surrounded by the raised portion 58 formed on the upper face of the plate 33 by the formation of the ring shaped depression 34, the part of the portion 52 surrounding the depression 54 bearing on the raised portion 58 of the plate 33 and imparting a downwardly directed thrust thereto when the king bolt nut is tightened.

The front portion 59 isupwardly offset so as to rest on the rearward extension 31 and a bolt 60 extends through this portion as well as the extension 31 and plate 33. This will prevent the front end of the plate from springing up when thrustis imparted to the ring '32 by backing of the pulling vehicle and also the thrust imparted thereto when going down hill or using brakes on the pulling vehicle;

A washer 6| may be interposed between the head 28 of the king bolt 29 and the clamp plate 23. What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A trailer hitch comprising a clamping plate, a traction plate, means for pivotally securing said plates together intermediate their ends, a thrust ring surrounding said securing means and engaging with said plates so as to receive all thrusts imparted to said plates, a loop on the traction plate having a free end spaced from said plate, a tongue hingedly carried by said loop, a strap member extending over said traction plate and engaging the end of said loop to yieldingly resist hinging movement of the tongue, and a steering plate pivotally and slidably carried by said traction plate. ,,2. A trailer hitch comprising a clamp plate having an annular depression, means securing the plate to a vehicleaxle, a ring member mounted in said depression, a traction plate mounted on said clamp plate and having an annular depression receiving the opposite face of said ring member, a loop formed on the front end of the traction plate and having'a free end spaced therefrom, a

bolt extending through said loop, a tongue carried by the bolt, a plate member extending across the top of said traction plate and having one end overlying the free end of said loop and its other end fixed to said traction plate, a bolt extending through the traction plate and said plate member to clamp the loop in frictional contact with the bolt carrying the tongue, and means extending through all of said plates to clamp the ring in said depressions.

3. 'A trailer hitch comprising'a pair of opposing plates-pivotally connected intermediate their ends, a loop member formed on the end of one of the plates, a tongue mounting member extending through said loop, a'tongue connected with said tongue mounting member, and resilient plates carried by the tongue and yieldingly engaging the ends of said loop to take up lateral play between said tongue and the plate member.

4. In a towing hitch, a turn-table including a base member and a rotatable member rotatably bent to embrace a pivot member carried by said tongue; and adjusting means acting on said bent portion of the rotatable member for said hinge connection.

5..In a towing hitch, a tongue having a hinge pin at one end-thereof; a turn-table including a tightening base member, and a rotatable member of sheet metal rotatably mounted on said base member and bent at one end around said hinge pin to constitute a hinge connection; and adjustable means for forcing the bent-around end of said plate into closer engagement with the hinge pin to take up looseness or wear.

JOSEPH E. HAGSTROM. 

